Goodbye to updating your Social Security bank details by phone: these are the two alternatives
The Social Security Administration says beneficiaries can no longer change their bank details over the telephone.
Social Security recipients in the U.S. will no longer be able to change their bank account information over the phone, the Social Security Administration (SSA) announced earlier this month.
How can I change my Social Security banking information now?
The SSA says beneficiaries now have two options available to them.
They can make the change on the ‘my Social Security’ online platform, using two-factor identification; or they can do it in person at a Social Security office.
To protect you from fraud, we will no longer accept changes to bank account information over the phone. Check out today’s blog to learn how you can change your direct deposit: https://t.co/Q77nEEQzuo pic.twitter.com/U203QL6s4t
— Social Security (@SocialSecurity) March 12, 2025
What to know about ‘my Social Security’:
“Asking identifying questions by telephone no longer enough”
“Approximately 40 percent of Social Security direct deposit fraud is associated with someone calling SSA to change direct deposit bank information,” the agency said in a statement on March 12.
“SSA’s current protocol of simply asking identifying questions by telephone is no longer enough to prevent fraud.”
The SSA also denied that it plans to eliminate all phone services, in the wake of reports that Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has pressured the agency into cutting all phone communication with beneficiaries.
DOGE enacting major Social Security cuts
Since President Donald Trump appointed Musk to head up DOGE’s bid to slash federal spending in the U.S., the SSA has been among the prime targets identified by the SpaceX and Tesla chief.
In February, it was announced that the SSA is to reduce its workforce from 57,000 to 50,000 - despite its former head, Martin O’Malley, complaining recently that the agency “has been operating at a 50-year low in staffing”.
What’s more, the DOGE has listed several dozen Social Security offices for closure across the U.S.
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